Hosted by the Medical Research Council
The Medical Research Council is developing plans for a new large-scale longitudinal population study and data platform currently known as the Adolescent Health Study, which we anticipate will be supported with UKRI infrastructure funding.
This platform would aim to recruit and retain around 100,000 adolescents for a period of ten years, predominantly from schools. It would recruit across an age range from 8 to 18 years. The overall objective is to stimulate an exponential increase in research to understand health trajectories and outcomes over the crucial life course transition from puberty to adulthood with a key focus on diminishing health disparities.
In preparation, the funder are hosting three virtual events to introduce the study and further develop its design through discussion of the potential challenges and opportunities.
At the events we will be sharing information that we gathered during our initial consultations, including views and ideas from young people and parents. Additionally, outputs from the events will be shared with young people for feedback in follow-up consultations.
The series begins with a webinar, chaired by Professor Nick Wareham, MRC Epidemiology Unit and Chair of the MRC Population Health Sciences Group. The webinar will introduce the vision for the Adolescent Health Study (AHS) on 21 April 2022, 2pm – 3pm. This will be followed by two virtual workshops to share insights and expertise and develop ideas on key topics:
- 11 May 2022: Engagement of adolescents in socioeconomic and health research
Examine the enablers and barriers to engagement with adolescents in research, identify if and how enablers and barriers differ between participants, determine what new approaches and methods are required to optimise recruitment and retention of participants in the planned study and consider how to develop and evaluate these approaches.
- 17 May 2022: Developing age-sensitive tools and assessments for studying the health and wellbeing of young people, with young people
Discuss what tools and assessments exist already, examine how and when they are useful and where improvements are required, determine what new tools and methods might be required for use in AHS and advise on how to develop and evaluate these approaches.
If you are a researcher or other stakeholder and are interested in attending any of the above events, please fill in this brief survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MX89W9F.
Numbers for the second and third events may need to be capped because of the interactive nature of the workshops, but there will be no cap on numbers for the initial webinar. MRC are seeking broad input to these events, from groups including:
- people with experience in research; with children and adolescents, with under-represented communities, within schools or the community
- researchers with experience in the development and/or implementation of any of the following; minimally invasive sampling measures, dietary assessment methods, assessment of puberty, health monitoring and social interaction using mobile, wearable and/or ambient technologies
- those working within biomedical science, anthropology, social science or, arts and humanities disciplines
- those employed by higher education institutions, Local Government, NGO’s, schools or the third sector
Complete the survey by 14 April 2022 to ensure your place.